For many years there were very few companies in TV game console market. They had their own unique products and certain market share. Seems there was no space for anyone else to compete there.

Recently there was a booming trend of mobile gaming. It started with Android powered phones and tablets with stronger hardware muscle. Number of games in Google play with high end graphics was increasing day by day. Finally we saw Nvidia Project Shield, a dedicated Android powered mobile gaming console.

Down the time, flexibility and the power of Android OS extended to TV gaming consoles as well. We already saw OUYA and today we have GameStick under the spot light. Seems this is going to be a considerable threat to TV game console market leaders.

Closer Look at GameStick

Design

Type: HDMI Dongle // BT Game Controller

The design of GameStick is sleek. It has HDMI dongle and a game controller. In game controller there is a pocket where you can put HDMI dongle which converts everything in to small pocktable package. So you can carry your gaming console wherever you go.

When you want to play games, all you have to do is plug the dongle in to HDMI port in TV and connect the game controller via Bluetooth.

You can separately purchase GameStick Dock. It will add up to 64 GB of storage, work as a wireless charger for GameStick controller, support Ethernet and connect other game controllers.

Processor and Storage

Platform: Amlogic 8726-MX

CPU: 1.5 GHz // Dual Core // Cortex A9

GPU: Mali-400

RAM: 1 GB DDR3

Internal Storage: 8 GB

Expandable Storage: Yes, SD Card

The hardware muscle here is not so impressive. Compared to Smartphone and Tablets that came out in last few months, this looks like antique. Even in OUYA there is a quad core processor. If you are planning to play high end graphic intensive games, you might have to think twice.

Internal storage is definitely not enough even for an average gamer. If you are playing 3D games in your 16 GB iPad, you know what I’m talking about. So keep provisions to buy a 32 GB SD card as well.

Software

OS: Android 4.2 Jelly Bean

UI: Custom

Android is the magic which made these kinds of gaming consoles possible. The standard Android UI is customized to go with game controller’s joystick and buttons. So by looking at UI you won’t be able to figure out if this is Android.

Connectivity

Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n

Bluetooth:  4.0

USB: micro USB 2.0 // 3 x Full Size USB with GameStick Dock

HDMI: Dongle // 1080p

Ethernet: With GameStick Dock

Single player gaming is boring. Gamers need to go multiplayer. So any gaming console needs high speed connectivity. This has Wi-Fi for internet and super speed Bluetooth for game controller. HDMI port is capable of streaming 1080p videos. If you get a GameStick dock you will be able to expand connectivity features further.

Wrapping Up

The trend of Android powered TV game consoles is very promising. Android is an open platform and it will attract lots of game developers. And it’s highly customizable, so console developers can alter it to meet the exact need. So software wise it’s pretty strong.

The problem here is in hardware muscle. GameStick comes with dual core CPU with 1 GB RAM. This is not enough to render high frame rate full HD 3D games. (After all you can’t expect anything else for $79) If you take a look at OUYA, it has Quad core CPU which might be barely enough for a hardcore gamer.

If Android TV game consoles need to give a solid competition to PlayStation and Xbox, they have to pay serious attention to hardware. Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 or may be 800 would be a great choice. To go there manufactures have to push the price point to $200-250 probably, still way less expensive than other TV game consoles.

Tags: #Android #Gaming

Apple was the giant of Smartphone and tablet market few years ago. But with the competition from Android devices they continued to lose the market share.

Mainly they were threatened by Android phones with huge high resolution displays. So they came up with iPhone 5 with a 4 inch display. Then 7 inch tablets went viral. So they released iPad Mini to join the party, though Steve Jobs once said 7 inch display is too small to deliver great application experience. Many of 10 inch Android tablets are decorated with high end hardware spec. So Apple released 4^th Generation iPad only 6 months after iPad 3. Only update there was the upgraded chipset and lightning connector. Even with that they are still threatened by Nexus 10.

With all these there are tons of rumors about 5^th Generation iPad. Lets go and take a look at those.

Shape of Apple iPad 5

First, we can expect major revamping in design. It will look more like iPad mini with thinner bezels, lighter and thinner body, than previous generation iPads.

In order to make the display thinner Apple will use GF2 touch screen technology. They have already used that with iPad Mini.

Previous generation iPad is not a very light device. So they will pay close attention and take extreme steps to make the next iPad lighter as possible. One thing is they are going remove one bar of LED from display backlight. It will make it lighter and less power hungy. However they have to find a way to make it bright and vibrant same as in iPad 3 and 4.

The chipset will be Apple A6X with minor upgrades. Display resolution, camera, connectivity technologies, storage would be almost same as previous iPad.

The next iPad is expected to be released on 2013 3Q and probably before that they will release iPhone 5S with few minor upgrades. In another post I’ll round up rumors about that.

Tags: #Apple #iOS #iPad #Tablet

Windows 8 made the UI of desktop operating systems totally up side down. Keyboard and mouse was no match for it and it was demanding a touch screen. Microsoft came up with their Surface Pro and many other manufactures joined the party.

Out of all those Asus was doing great and they introduced several Win 8 optimized devices with unique features. Asus Transformer book stands out among all those as the first detachable Asus notebook.

Insight for Asus Transformer Book

Design

Dimensions: 340/219/23 mm

Weight: 1900gm

In the first look it may look like any other high end Notebook with great display with touch screen, Chiclet type backlit keyboard and connectivity ports. But the magic here is you can remove the head and use it as a tablet.

The whole brain of the device is in the pad. The dock is only giving additional battery power, storage space and connectivity ports.

Display

Size: 13.3 Inches

Technology: IPS

Resolution: 1920×1080 px

Sharpness: 165 ppi

The display is perfectly sized to be a part of Notebook as a well as to work as a standalone tablet. Brightness level could be increased to 350 nits, so you won’t face any viewing issues even in outdoors.

Processor and Storage

Platform: Intel Core i7 / i5 Ivy bridge

CPU: 1.9 GHz // Dual Core // x64

GPU: Intel HD Graphics 4000

RAM: 4 GB // DDR3 // 1600 MHz // Dual Channel

Internal Storage: Pad: 128 GB // SSD | Dock: 500 GB // HHD

Expandable Storage: microSD (Pad) // SD (Dock)

This spec is similar to any other high end Notebook or Ultrabook. With the high speed processor, RAM and SSD it will fly with Win 8 pro.

Software

OS: Windows 8 Pro

This comes with full desktop version of Windows 8, not the tablet version. So you can run legacy windows applications as well as new Windows 8 Apps.

Camera

Primary: 5 MP // 720p@30fps (Optional)

Front Facing: 720P@30fps

The front facing camera is the standard option and there is a separate version with rear facing camera as well.

In a Tablet or Notebook you don’t really need a rear facing camera. If you are planning to buy one, think about that. It might save you some money.

Connectivity

Mobile Network: n/a

Wi-Fi: 802.11 b/g/n

LAN: 10/100/1000 Gbps

GPS: Yes (Not confirmed)

Bluetooth:  4.0

USB: 2 x USB 3.0 (Dock)

HDMI: microHDMI (Pad) // mini-Display (Dock)

One major drawback is Transformer Book doesn’t have built in mobile radio. If you want to connect to HSDPA data network you have to use a dongle. Other than that it comes with all the latest and fastest connectivity options.

Battery

 Type: Li-Ion

Capacity: 38 Wh (Pad) // 23 Wh (Dock)

Battery Life: ~5 h

Wrapping Up

This is a nearly perfect Windows 8 optimized device you can use for any type of usage such as handheld, laptop or desktop. It wraps up high end hardware, camera and connectivity options. Only missing piece is built in mobile radio and that also can easily be solved with a dongle or Mi-Fi router.

If you compare this with Surface Pro, I think Transformer Book has a huge advantage with its keyboard dock and its extra storage, battery power and connectivity. Surface Pro’s touch pad is not a good way for laptop operations and its display is also slightly smaller to be a Notebook.

The price tag of this device is $1479.99 for i7 model. I think this is a pretty good deal considering what you are getting. If you are planning to buy a high end Notebook and a Tablet you have to spend at least $2000. So Asus Transformer Book has lots of trump cards to play to attract lots of consumers over other Win 8 Pro Devices.

Images By: http://transformerbook.asus.com/

Tags: #Asus #Notebook #Tablet #Windows

It’s been only few weeks after launching Sony Xperia Z and Xperia Tablet Z. They have already made their mark as very special Android devices with 1080p display, dust/water resistant body and stronger hardware muscle. While everything is going on like this we are hearing some rumors about next Xperia. Let’s go and take a look.

What We Know About Next Xperia?

XperiaBlog.net came out with leaked image and spec. According to those, next Xperia, Sony C670X will have a 4.8 inches LCD display with  1080×1920 px of resolution and 459 ppi of pixel density.

The built is going to be plastic and glass same as Sony Xperia Z. But the images give us a hint that Sony may use Aluminum specially for surrounding band. I think if Sony could go for Aluminum uni-body like in HTC One they will have a better chance to take the lead in built quality department. And yeah! There is a high chance for this device to be water/dust resistant.

The internals are going to be Qualcomm Snapdragon 600 platform with 1.8 GHz Quad core Krait 300 CPU, Adreno 320 GPU, 2 GB of LPDDR3 RAM and 32 GB of internal storage expandable via microSD. Everything will come to life with latest Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean.

The camera is nothing really special. It’s 13 MP one with 1080p@30fps video recording probably along with 2 MP front facing camera.

This is expected to be released in mid 2013 and we are still months away. I’ll update this post as new information comes in.

Tags: #Android #Qualcomm #Smartphone #Sony

Asus transformer series is very popular for the concept of notebook-tablet hybrid approach. After the glory of Transformer Prime, the original one, Asus introduced many other tablets such as Transformer Pad 300 and Transformer Pad 700 Infinity.

Now they have taken it to the next step of evolution with the new Transformer Pad Infinity. It has some promising spec worth taking a look at.

Closer Look at Transformer Pad Infinity

Design

The tablet is just announced and we don’t have official data about it’s weight and dimensions. However the basic design is same as previous Transformer Infinity. So there is a high chance not to see significant fluctuation of  weight and dimensions.

Yeah, this is a transformer. So it has keyboard dock which will provide extra battery life, storage as well as connectivity.

Display

Size: 10.1 inches

Protection: Gorilla Glass 2

Technology: Super IPS

Resolution: 2560×1600 px

Sharpness: 299 ppi

No doubt that this is a gorgeous display. The resolution is surpassing famous iPad and on par with Nexus 10. This would be a great tablet for mobile gaming as well as HD media playback.

If you are going to use this outdoors in direct sun light, have no fear. This one has 600 nits of brightness as well as pretty decent contrast/saturation levels.

Processor and Storage

Processor: Nvidia Tegra 4

CPU: 1.9 GHz // Quad Core // Cortex A15

GPU: GeForce 72 Core

RAM: 2 GB // DDR3

Internal Storage: 32 GB

Expandable Storage: SDXC up to 64 GB

That’s lots of power which can dwarf any app or game available on Google Play. You have nothing else to ask for.

Software

OS: Android 4.2 Jelly Bean

UI: Asus Wave Share

The exact version of Android is not yet confirmed, but it will be 4.2 or latest. Though I don’t like, it will come with Asus Wave Share theme. But the good thing about Wave Share is that it has very minimum alteration to original UI. And Asus is not too bad with Android OS updates as well.

Camera

Primary: 5 MP // LED Flash // 1080p@30fps

Front Facing: 1.2 MP

Camera arrangement is pretty standard, yet all you can ask from a tablet.

Connectivity

Mobile Network: n/a

Wi-Fi: 802.11 a/b/g/n // Dual-band

GPS: Yes

NFC: n/a

Bluetooth:  3.0

USB: 3.0

Too bad that this guy doesn’t have a 3G version, but we can have a hope for future releases. Other than that it comes with high speed connectivity such as dual band Wi-Fi and USB 3.0.

When you transfer media files from PC to tablet via USB it will work like lightning with USB 3.0.

Battery

Type: Li-Po

Capacity: 18180 mAh (Tablet + Dock)

The combined capacity of tablet and dock is further increased compared to previous Transformer 700 Infinity. So we can expect even longer battery life with support of energy efficient processes.

Wrapping Up

The basic look and feel of the tablet is pretty same as predecessor, yet it packs up way better hardware and display. This is one of the most powerful tablets available with highest resolution display ready to win the tablet war.

The official price tag is not yet released but I’m guessing it would sit around $500 without the dock. Pretty neat deal compared to what you are getting.

Tags: #Android #Asus #Nvidia #Tablet

Google started Chrome OS project back in 2009 to develop a minimalistic OS specifically to work with web applications. Yeah, it’s a great idea! When you use a computer, you spend more than 90% of the time right in the browser.

Initially they optimized Chrome Browser and today it’s the fastest browser ever on the earth. Then they integrated an application platform for you to run apps right in the browser window. The Chrome web store is there for you to download apps and today it has thousands of good quality apps including games, to-do lists, media players etc. Finally they introduced dedicated hardware to run Chrome OS called ChromeBook completing the whole eco system.

Most of the ChromeBook we have seen were pretty affordable devices with average level hardware configuration. Still Chrome OS worked great on those. Now Google is going to take ChromeBook to next level by powering it up with latest and greatest hardware like in any other high end Notebook. It comes with the name ChromeBook pixel.

Insight for Chromebook Pixel

Design

Dimensions: 297.7 x 224.6 x 16.2 mm

Weight: 1496 g

It’s an elegant design with anodized aluminum uni-body that reminds me of latest MacBook Pro. Weight and thickness is at a minimum compared to same sized notebooks. There is a classy looking backlit keyboard and glass touch pad. No doubt that Google engineers have put some serious effort to make this ChromeBook look and feel great to the users.

Display

Size: 12.85 Inches

Protection: Gorilla® Glass

Technology: IPS

Brightness: 400 nits

Resolution: 2560 x 1700 px

Sharpness: 239 ppi

This is definitely the brightest and highest resolution display ever mounted in to a Notebook. It completes the picture with 10 point multi touch screen. Aspect ratio seems kind of weird, but a wise move Google! If you use a 16:9 display to browser web you will always have to scroll down to view content below the fold. With this display and it’s 3:2 aspect ratio it will be minimum.

Processor and Storage

Platform: Intel Core i5

CPU: 1.8 GHz // Dual Core // x86

GPU: Intel HD Graphics 4000

RAM: 4 GB // DDR3

Internal Storage: 32 GB (64 GB for LTE version)

Expandable Storage: Yes, via SD Card Slot

This is not the spec of Chromebook as you know it. This is a spec of high end laptop, but in a Chromebook. In this platform Chrome OS will fly high for sure. Here you have enough internal storage and if you need more you can get more. There is a SD card slot and 2 USB ports.

Software

OS: Chrome OS

There is nothing much to talk about. Once you open the lid it will take you to chrome browser and its apps. You can control them with keyboard, touch pad or multi-touch screen.

Camera

Front Facing: 720p HD

You will never need this camera to take photographs. So this is optimized for video calling such as Google hangouts.

Connectivity

Mobile Network: LTE

Wi-Fi: WiFi 802.11a/b/g/n 2×2

GPS: n/a

NFC: n/a

Bluetooth:  3.0

USB: Full Size USB 2.0 port x 2

Display Port: Yes, Mini Display Port

Blazing fast dual band Wi-fi radio is right in the device and if you are not happy with that you can get the LTE version to make this device fully connected to white fire grid. Other than that there is a Bluetooth radio in case you need it. You can extend the monitor through mini display port may be to a HD TV.

Battery Life

Capacity: 59 Wh

Battery Life: 5 h

With Core i5 processor and more than 2K display you can’t really expect amazing battery life with this device. However the battery is pretty big and spec says that it will live for 5 hours with active usage which is not bad. However I never trust the battery life in spec. You have to wait till many devices go in to users to get a clear picture.

Wrapping Up

Compared to previous generation chromebooks this is a powerhouse. There is no other laptop to match this display and carefully selected aspect ratio when it comes to web browsing. But the big question is “Is it really worth the money?”

The Wi-fi version marked for $1299 and LTE version for $1449. This price tags seems too high for a chromebook. And the whole concept of Chromebook is way ahead of time. People are not yet ready to give up all the installed applications and move to a cloud storage.

With all these I feel like Google introduced Chromebook Pixel not purely for sales objective. They did it to expand the boundaries of Chrome OS and accelerate its growth. I’m pretty sure in near future Chromebook pixel will set new standards for Chrome OS and make it popular.

Tags: #Chrome #Google #Notebook

Samsung Galaxy range was getting bigger and bigger with series of phones. Once the Galaxy S II came out it made a blast in the market and turned it towards Android  from iOS. Then Galaxy S III came out with amazing internals and display. Millions of devices are sold all over the world making “Galaxy” a brand for Android phones.

Normally in Q1 of every year, lots of Smartphone are coming to market and it’s same with 2013 as well. This time the trend is 1080p display and multi core processors. Samsung always keep the best for last. Their next Galaxy device, Galaxy S IV is expected to come to market by next April. There are lots of rumors and leaks about the device and here I’m round up all of them.

Expected Device Specification

The basic design of the device would be pretty similar to Galaxy S III. The display would be 5 inches AMLOED panel with 1920×1080 px resolution and 440 ppi of pixel density. Yes! Samsung is joining 5 inches 1080p party.

Samsung introduced Exynos 5 Octa in CES 2013. Most probably this chipset will power up Galaxy S IV. It will definitely give it great power, graphic performance as well as energy efficiency. CPU would be clocked at 1.8 GHz with 2 GB RAM and 32 GB of internal storage.

If Galaxy S IV is going to be released around April, it’s too early for it to have Android Key Lime Pie. So it will come out with Android 4.2.2. Jelly Bean.

Camera is one of the most attractive features in Galaxy S III. I’m pretty sure Samsung will take it to next level with S IV. There would be a 13 MP camera with LED flash and built in HDR capability. When it comes to video it’s very unlikely go beyond 1080p @ 30 FPS, but it will have HDR video recording.

Galaxy S III has all sorts of connectivity technologies and only thing we can expect extra in Galaxy S IV is Wi-fi ac support.

Finally the battery power, the major concern. Samsung Exynos 5 Octa is based on Cortex A15 architecture and it’s a heterogeneous system designed to save battery power. So we can have good hope for better battery life in S IV. However 1080p display is battery drainer, though AMOLED technology will slow it down. It’s going to be a massive phone so we can expect around 2500 mAh battery to power it up.

We are just few month away from official launch of Samsung Galaxy S IV, probably the next game changer in Android world. I’ll see you again after the launch with official spec and other goodness.

Update

Latest rumors says that the display is going to be SoLux back lit and processor is Qualcomm Snapdragon 600.  There are production issues in AMOLED 1080p display manufacturing and serious heating issues in Exynos 5 Octa platform. And seems they are going to go back to Galaxy S II like design.

Tags: #Android #Samsung #Smartphone

Many people love Nexus devices mainly because you are getting timely OS updates directly from Google. That’s why my pretty old Galaxy Nexus got sweet Jelly Bean while shiny Galaxy S III still had ICS by the time it was released. Hardware in Nexus devices are carefully designed to work closely with Android, so you are getting smooth user experience as well as good battery life.

In past few weeks Google expanded Nexus experience to Samsung Galaxy S IV and HTC One. This is a paradigm shift. Previously Google manufactured their own Nexus branded device in partnership with many handset manufactures.

If you are a Nexus fan, you must be more and more confused with the news that Sony Xperia Z is also going to get Nexus experience. Is Google going to stop manufacturing Nexus branded devices? What will be the future of Nexus device? You must have many questions. Let’s go and find answers.

Google Devices

The first good news you’d like to hear is that Google continues Nexus handset manufacturing with Samsung, Asus and LG. probably they might add HTC in to this list due to good name they earned with HTC One. So, rumors about Nexus 5 still could be a reality.

Sales of Nexus devices always sky rocketed. Even after several month of official release, Nexus 4 is out of Stock in Google Play. The situation is pretty similar with other Nexus devices. The reason is extremely low price point and lower supply compared to demand.

Non-Google Devices

Google was looking for alternative options to give Nexus experience to more users. This will solve the problem of Android fragmentation up to some extent since Google can directly push updates to many handsets. Hereafter HTC One and Galaxy S IV also will get updates parallel to other Nexus devices.

Finally

This is a pretty interesting setup. Google manufacturing original Nexus devices as well as absorbing popular handsets in to Nexus family. In addition Google is releasing stock apps to Google play one by one to make core OS update less important. Wise move Google, to solve this burning problem of Android fragmentation.

So Nexus fans, you have nothing to worry about. You will be able to enjoy Nexus experience in Google devices, non-Google Nexus devices and near Nexus experience in any Android device with stock Google apps.

Tags: #Google #Nexus

The 7 inch tablet trend started with the Amazon Kindle Fire. It was portable, well functional and gave good value for money. Then came the Nexus 7 and turned that trend in to a craze. It’s the reference model for Android 4.1 Jelly Bean manufactured by Asus. They sold millions of devices all over the world and still the monthly sales data tops millions.

Google recently released brand new Nexus 4 and Nexus 10 completing the Nexus family along with Nexus 7. Mid 2013 would be a great time for next major update for Android. As usual you can expect a reference device with that, probably next Nexus 7. Many rumors say that it will come out on Google I/O Conference in May.

Shape of Next Nexus 7

Design and Name

Asus will get the change to manufacture next Nexus 7 and probably they will follow the same design concepts. It might support a smart cover like in Nexus 10. About the naming the will continue the Nexus 7 brand with year prefix probably. Like 2013 Nexus 7.

Display

We can expect a huge improvement in Display. It would be a 7 Inch IPS panel with 1920×1080 px of resolution and 314 ppi of pixel density. Once it comes out it’s going to be the best display in any 7 inch tablet.

Processor and Storage

There is a serious argument over internals. Some sources say that it would have Nvidia Tegra 4 and some says that it’s Qualcomm Snapdragon S4 Pro. Anyway It’s going to be Quad core, so what we have to consider is the CPU architecture.

With several benchmark tests we saw that Qualcomm Krait CPUs easily kicked off Cortex A9 CPUs. But Nvidia Tegra 4 comes with Cortex A15 CPU which is much better than last generation Krait CPUs. So if Google like to give it more power, especially for graphic, Nvidia Tegra 4 would be the ideal choice.

But many reports say that it will have Snapdragon S4 Pro platform, simply because it’s cheaper and not way behind even compared to Tegra 4.

It will come with 2 GB of blazing fast LPDDR3 RAM and 16/32 GB of internal storage probably non-expandable.

Software

There is nothing much to say about the OS. It will come with next major version of Android with original theme and all its goodness.

Camera

Nexus 7 doesn’t have a rear facing shooter. There is only a front facing camera for video calling. There is a high chance to keep the camera arrangement as it is, basically to keep the price point lower as possible.

Connectivity

There will be a Wi-Fi version as well as 3G version, definitely not a LTE version. Along with that it will come with all the other connectivity technologies same as original Nexus 7.

Battery

Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean is back on track with battery power. With that, original Nexus could live for nearly 10 hours and it will continue the same with next Nexus 7 as well. It’s very unlikely to expect a bigger battery.

Wrapping Up

In today’s market if you need a 7 inch Android tablet, the obvious choice is Nexus 7. It’s giving you the best value for your money. Google will try to keep the price point under $250 for next Nexus 7 as well. With improved internals and display I’m pretty sure it will add many more millions to Nexus 7 sales figures.

Tags: #Android #Asus #Google #Nexus #Tablet

Last week Google rolled up long awaited new version of Gmail with lots of interesting features. Gmail app was working pretty well anyway and in last iteration they added pinch to zoom solving one of the most annoying problems. With latest increment they are trying to make the user experience better by streamlining operation.

New Features

Sliding Drawer

The main menu is totally redesigned and now it’s a sliding drawer from left edge. There you can quickly switch mail account, inboxes (If you have enabled tabbed inbox) folders and labels.

Swipe Down to Refresh

Now you don’t have to press refresh button to check whether there are new email. All you have to do is go to the very top of the email list and swipe down further. This feature is already there in Twitter and Facebook for Android.

Sender Image

In Settings -> General settings you can enable sender’s image. Then it will show you the senders Google+ profile picture in front of email. If there is no Google+ profile, it will show a default image representing first names first letter. You can tap on the sender’s images to select multiple emails.

Empty Trash and Spam

Usually if you want to empty trash or spam, you have to do it in Gmail web. Now that feature is available in Android app. Go to spam or trash folder and then go to settings menu to access this. It won’t be visible if there are no spam or trash.

Finally

Other than features, performance of scrolling, swipe to archive and pinch to zoom is significantly improved. In mail folders and sliding drawer you feel no lag at all. App load time is also reduced noticeably.

If you didn’t update Gmail on your Android yet, go ahead!

Tags: #Android #Gmail